Quilting

I have never quilted, but am so excited to jump right in and try it out. Brody bought me a new sewing maching for Christmas and it is awesome! Once we get settled in the new place, Clayton's quilt will be my project for awhile. I found this vehicle duvet cover at Ikea and I am going to take it apart and make pillows and other bedding for his new bed. The quilt will be all the solid colors in big squares to fit a double bed. I created the pattern so hopefully it will turn out! Clayton's room is my first priority. I will be painting the room, hopefully doing a car mural on the wall and getting his quilt done so we can move him into his big boy bed before baby is born.

Our new home

We close on our home in 3 days! I can't wait to unpack and decorate. We have been boxed up since the end of October, it will be like Christmas all over again for Clayton.

After Brody was offered his new job in Omaha, I flew out to look at houses with my Uncle who is our real estate agent. We spent 2 1/2 days looking at houses and I didn't walk into one house and get the feeling that it was the right one. So we found a rental with a 4 month lease and continued our house search once we got settled.

We walked into this house and I told Brody and Steve, "Maybe they have cookies for us". They did and they were still warm! Yum! I have to joke now that the cookies sold us.

Here are some pictures of our new place. It is really hard to take pictures to really see what the house it like. I will take more once we are moved in.

This is our living room. I can't wait for a fireplace! To the right is the dining room and kitchen. To the left is 3 bedrooms and stairs to the basement.

The kitchen of my dreams! A huge walk in pantry and lots of counter space to cook and bake. I can't wait to make valentine's goodies in a couple weeks.

My built in desk right in the center of the house. No more sharing an office with Brody!

The basement is unfinished. We are planning on doing all the work ourselves and hope to have it complete before baby is born in July. We will be putting in a bathroom, Brody's office, a guest room and have a family room down there. All you guests that come to visit will have your own private living quarters.

Big Brother!!!

Clayton is going to be a big brother in July! I think he is ready, he is in love with babies right now and stops to see them or points them out in the store. Out of the blue last week he said, "I want a baby sister". Some days it is, "I want a baby brother sister". "Baby in mommy's tummy? Come out soon?"

I just can't believe how much my little man is talking these days and learning. He loves to ride his bike on the hardwood floors. He has rode it more in the house than he ever did outside. He knows his primary colors and it learning to counting to 5 and spell is name. If you ask him how old he is, he will say "four". I guess 4 is more fun that 2? He loves to help me cook in the kitchen and does very well at cracking eggs. One morning I came in the kitchen and he had pulled the chair up in front of the stove and had cracked an egg in the skillet. The shell was sitting nicely to the side in two pieces and he had the spatula in his hand. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "making daddy an egg", "mommy fire on?" Thankfully he hasn't figured out how to light the burners yet! Brody told him to "go make daddy an egg" and he did just that! He is a little sponge right now and takes it all in. He is too smart for his own good!


Clayton loves to paint, color, and play play-dough. It doesn't matter what it is, it always gets tested in the mouth. Him and Brody painted on paper the other night and then it turned into face painting.
He loves to read books. Today he told me he wanted to take a nap in his house (one of our projects during the snow storm last week). I found him laying in there with his blankie, reading books. He is a busy little boy and will find something to entertain him if he needs too, but usually it spells trouble. Today I found him on top of his changing table that is in his closet. He had got the markers off the top shelf and was coloring on his shirts hanging in the closet!!

I am thankful that he takes 3 hour naps; him and I both need that time! He still has his binkie and potty training still seems far off, but hopefully will come before baby arrives. I am excited to transition him into his big boy bed after we get moved and settled. We are starting to talk about giving his bed (crib) to baby and he told me he was going to give his blankie to baby too. Ahh, his blankie is his best friend and goes everywhere with him. This boy just melts my heart. I love him so much! I am so thankful I get to spend everyday with him.

Adjusting

December 6 was our first snow! It lasted for 3 days and amounted to 15+ inches. By day 3, we had to get out of the house, so I shoveled out the car and 2 hours later we were off to my Aunt's house just around the corner.

We were suppose to get another huge snow storm coming in the week of Christmas, so my mom, Clayton and I drove back to McCook with my cousin and Brody followed the next day. He drove in the storm but luckily made it before is was bad and interstate was closed down.

The snow is only fun for a short while with Clayton and then he is too cold! Temperatures have been below 10 degrees for the high since Christmas. This has been the hardest thing to adjust to with us being able to play outdoors almost all 365 days out of the year in California.

I have realized that Clayton and I are just not homebodies! We like to be busy, out doing things during the day. I have found out when it snows, everything closes down for days! We had such a great routine in California: Tues-swimming, Wed-music, Fri-park. We were surrounded by lots of friends. Not having that routine after the move has made me a little crazy lately, but I feel it is coming. I signed Clayton up for gymnastics on Wed. and music on Thrus. We also have the Early Childhood Learning Center that we can drop into any time during the day when schools are open. Lately, Clayton asks to go there about every day. It was been a great outlet for us with art activies, story time, music and a exercise room. I got to know a couple mothers there too with children the same age as Clayton.

We tried out a church the first weekend in January, Vineyard of Omaha. We were at a Vineyard church in California so I was glad to find one here. We like it and are excited to get involved and be apart of it. We have been able to leave Clayton in the nursery the last two times which hasn't been very successful since he has been born.

After church on Sunday the 3rd, we headed over to take some measurement in our new house only to discover we didn't have the house key. It had fell out of Brody's pocket. He retraced his steps back to the place we ate lunch and back to the church only to find no key. Tuesday we recieved a call from the church that they had found our key. I was reminded that day that my heavenly father is the key to helping me through this adjustment period. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding' in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6.

Football time!

(My future football player)It was exciting to be moving to Nebraska right in the middle of football season with us being Cornhusker fans. Clayton calls it "football game time." We got to enjoy a football game with my friend Leah, whom I have known my whole life, and her family. Their basement is the Nebraska football room and they have every Husker paraphenellia there is!
Clayton and Keegan

The first weekend after we moved here, Brody suprised me with tickets to a game. We had so much fun! I am not a huge fan of football, but being in Memorial Stadium with die-hard fans, seeing the sea of red is quite a breath taking experience.

We got to go to a second game with some of our family.

(Cousin Marcus, cousin Becki, my sister Joni, me and Brody)

(me, my dad, Joni)

Back on the farm

I grew up on a farm in a small town called McCook, 4 1/2 hours west of Omaha. I was a bit of a city girl growing up, but it is ironic, as I have got older my roots have come back to me. I have looked forward to spending time on the farm and helping my dad when Brody and I have traveled back to Nebraska over the years to see family. I never imagined I would end up back in Nebraska! While Brody was in training for two weeks, Clayton and I traveled to McCook to spend some time on the farm. His whole world opened up to a new level! He had so much fun being outside with Pappa feeding the cows, horses, riding on the tractor and exploring the farm. (Pappa's little shadow)

(Feeding cows right behind the house)

He also got to go for a ride on the combine. That is all he can talk about now! Brody bought him the Cars movie and although he has very little interest in watching it, he loves watching the tractor tipping scene and seeing the combine race through the field.

(Trying to eat a hard piece of corn)

While there, my sister and I took the boys fishing at the sandpits. Clayton has learned how to cast his pole and loves to fish so that is all he could talk about while waiting for the boys to get out of school that day.

(Nephews, Logan-Joni's son, Ryan & Clayton)

Ryan caught a huge wiper! Clayton wasn't too sure about the fish and wouldn't even stand near it, but all he could talk about afterwards was "Ryan caught a big fish" with his arms out.

A Season.......

3 years ago, Brody and I packed up our house in Nampa, Idaho and drove 500 miles to our new destination in Chico, California where Brody would start his new job as a sales representative for Stryker Medical. This was a new adventure for us. We left our family for the first time ever, friends since high school, our new home of 1 year and our new church family; everything that was familiar to us. During our month of packing, I struggled with this change, I was comfortable where I was. I envisioned starting our family in our new home and building our life together there.

One Sunday at church our pastor began singing "You Never Let Go" by Matt Redman, I broke down crying as I heard the words "Oh no, You never let go through the calm and through the storm. Oh no, you never let go in every high and every low. Oh no, you never let go. Lord, you never let go of me". I then knew that the Lord would take care of us through this change and that this was part of his plan for us. After church was over, a church friend came over to talk to me and said she used to live in Chico and she would give us the name of her friends to get in contact with when we got there. We did contact them and they became part of our Chico family. Right away God put great people in our lives!
Jenna and I were pregnant together with our boys being born 2 months apart. We walked every week in the park up until the day the boys were born. After birth, we needed more of a change, so we started rollerblading. Justin and Brody hit it off right away with their love to hunt! Jenna's parents welcomed us right into their family and we enjoyed many wonderful dinners with them and had lots of laughs.

Elliana, the big sister, was like a big sister to Clayton too. Tucker and Clayton, these two boys together are double trouble!

My dad's sister, Rose and her family, lived 20 minutes from us. We had lots of fun family times eating and playing games. My aunt and cousin Colleen were the first ones to welcome our new baby boy! They even kept Clayton overnight for us several times so we could have daddy/mommy time.

Uncle Don is a huge Cornhusker fan too, and Brody enjoyed watching many games with him.

We had the best neighbors ever! We were welcomed right away when we moved in and were blessed with food and gifts when Clayton was born. We had neighborhood parties and an annual Easter egg hunt for the kids.

After Clayton was born, I started attending mommy/baby educational classes. After the classes ended, us moms formed a playgroup, and we met every week sharing our mothering experiences and watching our little ones grow. It is hard to believe we just celebrated their 2nd birthdays!

(1st Birthday party)

Some people come into your life for a SEASON, because you turn has come to share, grown or learn. They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it; it is real, but only for a season. Our Chico family/friends touched for lives in so many ways during the 3 years we were there. They will never be forgotten and will be greatly missed! I could probably write a book on our life in Chico with all the memories that were made there. I am so thankful we got to experience life in Chico!

3 years later almost to the day, we said good-bye to the life we had built in Chico and moved 1700 miles to Omaha, Nebraska where Brody took a new job in sales with Bard Peripheral Vascular. We started over once; I have faith that we will do it again!